Non-MMO RPG

Is anyone aware of an upcoming NON-mmo rpg? I'm looking for something along the lines of Baldur's Gate. You know, just sit down with a couple friends and lose a couple hours.

I'm really not into MMO's, I have more fun playing as a team with people I know. I mean, if you were actually in the middle of a dangerous and magical land filled with blood-thirsty beasts, would you really head out on a quest with complete strangers? Hell, no!

All the upcoming RPG's I've heard of are MMO. I was just wondering if anyone had a line on something else. PC or Mac. Or DS, too.

Fable is, indeed, PC and Xbox only. However, if you're looking for something along the lines of Baldur's Gate, Fable is not the game you're looking for. It's a great game, and all, with excellent graphics, good voice acting and tight gameplay... but it's only 12 hours long. 15, at the most. And it isn't really the dungeon crawling, overworld sprawling, loot grabbing type of game. There's really only a few types of weapons, you level to the max quite easily, and, despite how cool your character looks, it's not really "immersive" as it is "cool."

Don't get me wrong. I liked Fable a lot, but it was a big dissappointment, and it is definitely not worth anything above $20.

As far as the Elder Scrolls games... well... they are, what I consider, the prime exemplar of everything that computer RPGs are and hope to be, both good and bad. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is huge (and I mean, I've never seen a non-random game overworld quite as big or open, seriously), they're long (and not because of take-forever battles), and it had stunning graphics for its era. The races, cities, NPCs, quests, stories (including books that tell stories within stories), character-creation, environments, UI, and overall game immersion are all top notch, best I've seen done.

On the other hand, the game is drawn out, extensively. You'll feel like a literal traveler in this world, not because the story does so, but you travel so many freaking miles! The game does give you the option to do speedier travelling, but then you skip out on the random caves and possible side-quests along the way. The system is flawed, too, as melee fighters have a huge advantage over combat-mages, as it is not only faster to kill using weapons, it's considerably easier to do and more efficient. An all offense mage would be the weakest thing in the game, even at maximum level. However, the game does not limit you to a specific class, so a hybrid character is not only possible, it's really the only way to go. Finally, the story (which is 100% optional) takes forever to progress, but that just gives you more room to explore.

Oblivion is the next one coming out, and it has all the great things from Morrowind, plus more. The graphics are, bar-none, best in RPG-dom, the combat system sounds like they're making some very neccessary improvements, the combat magic has been streamlined considerably, stealth play is improved, every single object is fully move-able thanks to Havok, the AI on the NPCs seems incredibly intricate, and the story is more engaging from beginning to end, while at the same time the game maintains all the same freedom and opportunity felt in the previous one.

Of course, these are all things that are merely said about Oblivion, but Bethesda is hardly the type to over-hype their games, and if the great improvement Morrowind was over the previous ES games is any indication, Oblivion will live up to it's pedigree.

(Edit: I forgot to say anything about Elder Scrolls, which there's so much to say )

Just my thoughts on Fable as well. It bugs me a lot. During the game, it was awesome. Then it just ENDED. It was abrupt, and shoots you back to the starting screen like nothing ever happened. It had so much potential, was so well design, and then, out of the blue, it was over. I was frustrated.

BTW: If it sounds like I'm an ES fanboy, know that I'm not. I hadn't even heard of the ES series until about a year ago. Seriously. In fact, I hated Morrowind the first time I played it. However, after many an abandoned character, I actually made an effort to immerse myself in the game, and... well... now I'm a believer.

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